It was 67 years ago today that the United States dropped an atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. On that day, the world witnessed, for the first time, the devastating effects of nuclear weaponry.

The anniversary was marked by a somber memorial ceremony at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park.

As the world takes a moment to reflect on that World War II tragedy, many are also thinking back to a more recent disaster — the nuclear power plant meltdown at Fukushima.

Both events show that nuclear power is a dangerous force to reckon with. And although the incidents affected Japanese civilians in very different ways, the parallels are clear. As Japan struggles to define its approach to nuclear power post-Fukushima, today’s Hiroshima anniversary serves as a poignant reminder of just how risky nuclear technology can be.

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The Atomic Age is an ongoing project that aims to cultivate critical and reflective intervention regarding nuclear power and weapons. We provide daily news updates on the issues of nuclear energy and weapons, primarily though not exclusively in English and Japanese via RSS, Twitter, and Facebook. If you would like to receive updates in English only, subscribe to this RSS.

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Additional Notes / 謝辞

The artwork in the header, titled "JAPAN:Nuclear Power Plant," is copyright artist Tomiyama Taeko.

The photograph in the sidebar, of a nuclear power plant in Byron, Illinois, is copyright photographer Joseph Pobereskin (http://pobereskin.com/)

This website was designed by the Center for East Asian Studies, the University of Chicago, and is administered by Masaki Matsumoto, Graduate Student in the Masters of Arts Program for the Social Sciences, the University of Chicago.

Contact / 連絡先

If you have any questions, please contact the Center for East Asian Studies, the University of Chicago at 773-702-2715 or japanatchicago@uchicago.edu.